That Time New Maverick Renaldo Balkman Choked His Own Teammate

A couple of weeks ago, the Dallas Mavericks announced the signing of 6-8 forward Renaldo Balkman. Other than the name, which bears an uncanny resemblance to that of former Mavs star Rolando Blackman, news that the team had signed a guy who averaged 4 points a game over a handful of NBA seasons before heading over to the Philippines seemed entirely unremarkable.

What the Mavs somehow neglected to mention is that Balkman has eyelid tattoos, "hustle" on the right, "harder" on the left, according to The Dallas Morning News' Eddie Sefko. Also, he once choked another player -- a teammate, no less -- during a game. See the video.

Balkman tells Sefko that he's put that particular incident behind him. No doubt he's matured a lot in the past six months.